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Rust-Free With Air: 1975 Chevrolet Monza

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I have thought the Chevy Monza 2+2 hatchback was attractive since the first time I saw one. Based on the Vega, but with more styling and size, the same basic car was offered as a Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. This one looks pretty nice in the pictures and with no rust, a V8, and 46,945 miles, it probably is. It’s located in McComb, Mississippi and is listed for sale here on eBay where bidding is just over $2,500 without a reserve.

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While we’ve covered the Mirage before, and recently posted a Buick Skyhawk, we haven’t seen many Monzas in as nice a condition as this one appears to be. I believe the aluminum wheels are factory issue and they really look nice on this car. The seller states that they have had the car for five years and don’t have the room to keep it (presumably they’ve purchased another car).

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It’s a little hard to evaluate the quality of the paint when pictures have been taken with everything wet like this. However, the ad states the car has been repainted once and there’s no rust. The Monza also has a new battery and tires. If the paint really is this shiny the car would certainly stand out in a crowd!

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While the interior doesn’t look as nice as the outside, it does look original. The air conditioning works, which is certainly unusual in a car of this age. I’m a little concerned about what might be mold or mildew on the door panel–what do you think it is? Unfortunately, the car is equipped with an automatic; I’d prefer a manual, but that’s being picky!

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We can tell the engine runs by looking at the alternator. Underhood looks pretty grimy, but when you have the combination of a V8, working air conditioning, and a lightweight, attractive body, how can you go wrong? I’d love to have this car in my driveway; what about you?

Comments

  1. Avatar boxdin

    Mom had a 77 Pontiac same body (Ventura?) It handled poorly, AC was marginal at best, odd fire V6 was shakkkkkey all the time. Not such a lovely car.
    As with lots of GM, good looks built with compromising quality.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Great white

      Sunbird, the Ventura was a Nova body

      Like 1
    • Avatar Blyndgesser

      The Ventura was a Nova. The Sunbird was a Monza.

      Like 2
    • Avatar EDW A CLYMER

      The Pontiac was called an Astra… I had a roommate buy one new in 1978 in Columbus Ohio actually we lived in Columbus he purchased with his Parents co-sign from his hometown of Gallipolis in southeastern Ohio..His came with a Pontiac Iron Duke 4 Cyclinder…… the V-8 Model was a 262 ci small block Chevrolet….EDW A CLYMER

      Like 0
      • Avatar Dave Member

        Astre was Pontiacs Vega, Sunbird was a Monza

        Like 2
  2. Avatar Dave Member

    If this was closer to me it would be mine, really liked these when I was younger.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Daril

    Ventura was the pontiac version of the nova.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar piper62j

    Nice.. Peppy too.. A real keeper is no rust.. Whoever gets it be sure to inspect the steel rods on each apron that are welded in for support.. The welds break away due to flexing of the aprons..

    Nice find.. Best of luck to the new owner..

    Like 1
    • Avatar Roy

      I am not sure what you are talking about when you say steel rods and apron. Are talking about the engine bay compartment area?

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Dirty Dingus McGee

    Good luck changing the spark plugs. Had a 77 Spyder. Gm service calls for unbolting the motor mounts and jacking up the engine to be able to get to the one on the drivers side nearest to the firewall.

    Like 0
    • Avatar robert t

      wasn’t hard if you used a little ingenuity I had this exact car

      Like 1
  6. Avatar Dave W

    I had one of these for a while back years ago.
    Mine had the 262 ( I think ) v8 and a 4 speed along with the trunk instead of hatch back.
    It had just enough power to be mildly fun.
    I was on my way home one night from work and had a flat tire.
    I had already had a few beers and had no business changing a tire so I got a ride and went back the next morning to get it.
    Some one had broke a window out and stole my stereo and speakers and about 200 cassettes that was in the case in the trunk.
    They tore the hell out of the interior getting everything out they wanted.
    The insurance company totaled it.

    Like 1
    • Avatar DW

      May the fleas of 1000 camels infest the armpits of a the little turdblossom who wrecked your car.

      Like 1
  7. Avatar van

    Had one with 50s all round
    I was driving with my dog
    Going around a corner she stood on the door
    Did you know a wippet could look bewildered

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Ed P

    Nice looking car. As to the wetness, at least the seller washed off any crud and that is good in my book. The price seems reasonable.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar Steve

    These cars are getting really hard to find in this condition. Lots of possibilities for hot rodding these cars. The build quality is lacking and the design was tilted twords econobox but they are cool for what they are.

    Like 1
  10. Avatar piper62j

    You’re not alone Dirty.. I had a 69 Mach 1 427CJ with A.I.R. and to change the plugs required the engine to be lifted 4″ off the mounts… I made the mistake of selling that car.. Bad mistake..

    Like 0
  11. Avatar G 1

    The V-8 was to heavy for the front end and the front wheels would cant out on the bottom. Weakly designed structure.

    Like 1
  12. Avatar DRV

    I don’t remember those wheels. I had the Skyhawks and my sister got the Monza. Hers never ran right and lived at the service department. It seemed like it was a diliberate lemon.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar charlie Member

    Friend had the Buick version which was really a solid and tight car compared with the 4 ddor Vega, and handled very well for the time. Now this was New England when the speed limit was 55 so no idea how it would feel at 70.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar DorsoDoug

    Chevrolet Monza; the least memorable car I ever owned (actually wife’s). The cowl disintegrated within 4 years. And holes rusted through the roof! I think GM made this car to try to make the public forget how bad the Vega was, but it was essentially a re-skin of the same.

    Like 1
  15. Avatar Chuck F 55chevy

    I’m glad they didn’t wet down the interior to make it shiny like the car and engine compartment.

    Like 1
  16. Avatar piper62j

    They weren’t steel rods exactly, but maybe a steel bar used to support the aprons to the body.. We had several come into the dealership where the rods had actually broken apart from front end flexing.. One on each apron on the outboard side up in behind the suspension..

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Danno

    I recall seeing a “Spyder” decal kit on these, that looked really sharp at the time.

    Like 1
  18. HoA Howard A Member

    Cue “X” files music. When I met my ex-wife, she had a brand new ’77 just like this, same color. It had the optional 305 V-8 which somewhat alleviated the spark plug dilemma, but it was still a bitxx. It didn’t have A/C, which seems to exasberate the problem here. It had power to pass, no doubt, but otherwise, was a pretty poor car. Handled bad, poor brakes, winter driving was downright scary, and, of course, very hard to work on. In the 5 years she had it, it began to rust profusely, and she sold it to her brother, who wrapped it around a telephone pole. Seems that was the era, stuff V-8’s in sub-compact cars. MT car of the year in ’75. Must have been a slow year. Nice example here.

    Like 2
  19. Avatar Doug Towsley

    I remember these cars well, Knew several friends who had them and a good friend I was stationed with overseas, Me with a 63 SS Nova hot rod and him with a mid 70s Monza. The thing most posters here seem to focus on inaccurately was thinking these cars were slouches power wise. Certainly true with bone stock factory cars. Show me ANY mid 70s muscle car stock with ANY power. But no one left these stock. No one i know did. First thing we did with these mid 70s cars was strip off all the emissions crap, AC and anything that got in the way of power,. Then souped them up with heads, intakes, cams, improved carbs, and most of all, Headers and free breathing Exh and in most cases removing the Cats. Once you did that, You had a new set of problems, Brakes, suspension and body flex. All easily addressed with aftermarket parts of the day. Didnt any of you read Car Craft or Hot Rod back in the day? I still have a lot of those magazines. Every month features on parts and builds. Those cars were a HUGE improvement over the crappy Vegas, And yes, they suffered from the general issues of that Era, crappy cars built to a price but we made them BETTER, Which is what hot rodding is all about. My buddies cars like this would seriously impress anyone today if they were still around and still put a lot of modern cars to shame. I finally let my 63 Nova SS go because it was crazy fast, but also super scary handling and brakes after owning it from 1984 to 1997. I think this car is a fun reminder of back in the day, Van Halen and Ted Nugent on the tape deck, 6x9s Pioneer 3 ways in the back window in Speaker boxs, and Tuck & Roll upholstery. We thought we were hot stuff. Wanna see a real flash back? Go on You tube and look p “Heavy Metal parking lot”,,, Jeez, we couldnt all have been that Young and dumb! Good lord thats a flashback though. See: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/heavy_metal_parking_lot

    Like 2
    • Avatar DW

      Yup. I STILL have my 6×9 Pioneer speakers in speaker boxes and a big cassette tape collection kicking around… just cant seem to find the right vehicle to put them in :)

      Like 2
  20. Avatar Slickimp

    My friends dad had one back in early 80,s 305 4spd He had four of use in it 3 of us were big guys and got 4tn gear cherp out of it That car could really boggie lol good times

    Like 1
  21. Avatar Jay

    I owned a 1975 Buick Skyhawk in the mid 80’s with a V6 and a 4 speed. I loved the car as it was a little rocket ship. I got rid of it because the fire wall cracked where the clutch cable passed through. I should have had it welded as the rest of the car was in great shape, instead it went to the junkyard.

    Like 1
  22. Avatar Jonathan

    The monza was supposed to get the rotary engine gm was getting ready to produce. That’s why the transmission tunnel was so high.

    Once the rotary engine was scrapped GM scrambled to put engines in. The iron duke was nonsense. The v6 dating back to the 90 degree v8 and the 262 v8 was woefully rated at either 110 hp or 130 hp I can’t remember.

    The wheels were to small and the car always looked tippy.

    I was enthusiastically waiting for this car back in the day and when it arrived in production form…I just couldn’t warm up to it.

    Still it’s great to see this fine example available for 2500.

    Like 1
  23. Avatar Chris in Australia

    We got Monzas here in Australia, they were raced here in our “Sports Sedan” class.

    Like 1
  24. Avatar AO

    You almost can’t kill that GM Harrison A/C compressor. Believe it or not Ford used them in the Mark IV, Thunderbirds and some other full sized Fords in the mid seventies. I have a 76′ Thunderbird with the original and it is still cold. (Even after R134a conversion, etc. Amazing (but heavy) unit. Picture was taken yesterday.

    Like 1
  25. Avatar Richard Prokopchuk

    I bought one in early 1975. It was a very nice metallic grey. I traded in my Vega GT kammback as part of the deal. Those wheels as seen above are the original wheels. I didn’t care for them at all so I had them pulled and the wheels from the Vega replaced them. I shipped out to Germany shortly after I bought it. It handled OK but on the winding German roads at the Czech border, it didn’t handle as well as it could, so I bought 4 Michelins at the local French military exchange. That fixed the handling issues. German Opel dealers were the GM handlers for the area. They were excited to see the 262 CI engine, but when they found the engine had to be jacked up to change the rear plugs they were not happy. That summer, I totaled the car in an accident where a farmer and his hay wagon pulled out in front of me. The unibody was folded right above the driver’s side door and was totaled by the insurance company. The hay wagon had not even a scratch. Oh…one other thing. The manual said no chains were able to be fitted, which with the heavy snow the area got in winter, would have proven to be un drivable for six months of the year.

    Like 2
  26. Avatar Matthew waldbillig

    Like I told my future wife Chevy Monza V8 one of those unique cars ever owned in my life imma do a burnout 200 ft long or more best I got out of my 305 Monza was a 15.97 and 98 miles an hour the quarter mile that was what the stock engine the four barrel open exhaust I would love to have another Monza in fact I’m looking for one to buy and nice shape 0r rough shape as long as it runs and drives us all I care interior can be ripped up the body can be rough but not a total or a wreck

    Like 0

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